Jackson, who has helped big-hitting Russian Kovalev become the number one 175lber on the planet, sees Stevenson as the outright favourite, but says Australian-based Bika has the tools to cause an unfancied upset at the Pepsi Coliseum.
“On paper Stevenson is the favorite, a bigger puncher and has a better body attack, but if Bika can land one of those wild right hands then he has a chance,” Jackson told World Boxing News.
“Also, if the bout goes into the second half of the fight Stevenson may start to fade. Stevenson should win the fight but don’t be too shocked if Bika lands a haymaker and upsets the apple cart.”
A win for Stevenson will set up a WBC stipulated unification against Kovalev with four titles on the line provided Jackson’s charge comes through his IBF mandatory bout with Main Events stablemate Nadjib Mohammedi in the summer.
The two champions were due to meet in 2014, although Stevenson switching TV networks scuppered the contest and left Kovalev free to dethrone the evergreen Bernard Hopkins before stopping Jean Pascal last time out.
